Conviction overturned

1990 slaying of farmer

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Moberly Monitor-Index - Moberly, MO

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Posted Jan. 9, 2013 at 1:00 PM

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Posted Jan. 9, 2013 at 1:00 PM

Chillicothe, Mo.

The Missouri Supreme Court has overturned the murder conviction of a man who had been sentenced to life in prison for the 1990 slaying of a neighboring farmer, ruling that prosecutors withheld evidence that may have benefited his defense.

The state's high court ordered Mark Woodworth released within 60 days of when its ruling is finalized, unless prosecutors decide to retry him. Woodworth was convicted of fatally shooting Catherine Robertson and wounding her husband, Lyndel Robertson, as they slept in their home near Chillicothe, about 90 miles north of Kansas City.

Woodworth, whose father farmed with the Robertsons, was 16 at the time of their deaths. He was convicted first in 1995 and, after briefly being released on appeal, was convicted by a second jury four years later.

But Woodworth's attorney argued in his latest appeal that the conviction was "tainted" by prosecutors' failure to turn over evidence, including copies of letters between a Livingston County judge, prosecutors and Lyndal Robertson that could have cast doubt on Woodworth's guilt.

From his hospital bed, Lyndel Robertson initially identified his oldest daughter's ex-boyfriend — not Woodworth — as the likely shooter, according to court records. But Robertson later testified that he named the ex-boyfriend — who has denied involvement — only as a possible suspect.

The Supreme Court's decision follows a recommendation made last May by Boone County Circuit Judge Gary Oxenhandler that Woodworth's conviction be set aside. Oxenhandler had described Woodworth as a victim of "a manifest injustice."